1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a receiving apparatus, a receiving method, a receiving program, a recording medium, and a receiving system for receiving contents distributed through a network, recording it, and further transferring the received contents to another recording apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Arts
In recent years, a network environment such as Internet or the like has been developed and, generally, contents data such as music data or the like is distributed through the network. The contents distributed from a distributing server on the network is received (downloaded) by an information apparatus such as a personal computer connected to the network and stored into a storing apparatus such as a hard disk drive or the like. If copyright management information such as the number of copy permission times and the like has been added to the contents, those information is also stored into a storing medium.
The contents which has been downloaded and stored in the storing medium of the personal computer can be transferred to another recording and reproducing apparatus. When the contents is the music data, the downloaded contents is transferred to, for example, a portable recording and reproducing apparatus having a small hard disk drive therein. In recent years, there has been also proposed an MD system of the next generation in which a disc of the same size as that of the conventional MD (Mini Disc) is used, a larger capacity is realized, the recording of music data is executed under management of an FAT file system, and an affinity with the personal computer or the like is more enhanced. The downloaded contents is transferred from the personal computer into the portable recording and reproducing apparatus corresponding to such an MD system of the new generation and recorded onto the disc.
By transferring the downloaded contents to the portable recording and reproducing apparatus and recording onto the recording medium as mentioned above, the user can reproduce and enjoy the contents even in the open air. A construction in which contents data downloaded from a contents server into a data transfer apparatus such as a personal computer or the like through a network is transferred to a recording and reproducing apparatus using a semiconductor memory or an MD as a recording medium and recorded onto the recording medium has been disclosed in JP-A-2002-175664.
In order to enable the contents distributed through the network to be reproduced by an apparatus (for example, recording and reproducing apparatus: which is referred to as an apparatus B) other than an apparatus in which the contents has been downloaded (for example, personal computer: which is referred to as an apparatus A), hitherto, there is such a problem that after the contents was downloaded by the apparatus A, the user needs to execute the operation for transferring the contents from the apparatus A to the apparatus B, so that it is troublesome.
Particularly, there are many cases where the user possesses a plurality of apparatuses B to which the downloaded contents should be transferred. In such a case, there is such a problem that it takes the operation and a time corresponding to the number of possessed apparatuses B and the troublesomeness is enhanced.
When the downloaded contents has the copyright management information, there is a case where the contents is stored into a storing medium such as a hard disk drive or the like of, for example, a personal computer in which the contents has been downloaded and the copyright management information to the contents data is stored in a designated memory location on the hard disk drive. When the contents is transferred to another apparatus B, the user needs to designate the contents stored in the hard disk drive and the corresponding copyright management information. There is such a problem that when the downloaded contents data is stored into the hard disk drive, unless the user consciously designates the storing locations of those data, it is difficult to search for the target contents and the corresponding copyright management information, so that there is a fear that the contents data cannot be transferred. Such operations are particularly difficult for the user who is not proficient in the operation of the personal computer.